A Helping Hand

by Kaimei

{ AZ. } The Chimera finds a clue on his cure, however, he finds more than he expected. Can he help her? Chapter three now up!

1. Chapter One

A/N: Okay, well, this is my very first AZ fic, so it might not be the very best. As for EiD fans, chapter eight WILL be uploaded sometime in June, I promise you that!! Things have come up, and I'm ending school, and so are my friends, and we're having some hard times right now. This fic is what happens when my creativity goes over board. Please, enjoy it! Two of my friends, the ones who RP Amelia and Zelgadis in EiD, are RPing this for me. So there's less chance of me doing them OOC. Enjoy!

Chapter One.

Zelgadis had been wandering the Outer World for four and a half months after the fight with Death Star. He came to this small town, which had a very large library. When he searched it, he came up with a spell that would be able to turn creatures that were once human, back to humans. However, he had to have a certain stone to cast it. He took the paper out, wrote down the location on his map, and went after.

Now, we see Zelgadis sitting on a rock, resting and checking his location on the map. When he found out where, and managed to find the time, he went back between the two large rocks and sat down, resting as the desert storm continued.

Zelgadis Graywords sighed heavily, shaking his head and looking into the storm. "This better clear up soon..." He searched his cape a bit until he found his canteen in one of the many pockets. He shook it slightly; frowning at how much he heard was left. He unscrewed the cap, gazing at the bracelet hanging around the neck of it before he downed some of the water inside, putting the cap back on.

A week after he hid in between the rocks, the storm finally calmed down. By then, Zelgadis was out of water completely. Walking on, Zelgadis managed to find the large temple. Immediately, he entered. The room he came into was a long corridor, paintings decorated the walls, and the carpet was lush crimson.

Zelgadis walked down the corridor with his arms crossed, looking lazily at some of the pictures on the walls. "Interesting. Looks to be in good condition. I wonder if anyone's here..."

As Zelgadis walked along, he came to a very large door, the handle shaped like a dragon's head.

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow, opening the door.

When he stepped through, he stepped in something wet. The entire room was nothing but darkness, however, the stench of blood covered it.

Zelgadis stopped, wrinkling his nose and grabbing the hilt of his sword quickly. His ears twitched slightly, listening for anything.

There was no sound at all, but a candle randomly lit beside him. It lit enough to let him see what he stepped in. Blood.

Zelgadis hmed softly, drawing his sword and stepping forward a few steps

There was a sudden soft crack.

Zelgadis blinked, looking down at the ground below him dumbly. "Hu?"

And there was a louder crack before the floor beneath Zelgadis caved in.

Zelgadis fell through with a loud yelp, being even more dumb and forgetting he could cast levitation.

He finally landed hard on his back after falling for what seemed like an eternity.

Zelgadis groaned softly as he got to his feet. "I take back what I said about this place being in good condition..." He opened one eye to look around where he had fallen.

The room he was in was large, completely furnished and looked in great shape. Paintings hung everywhere, just like in the first corridor. However, down the room stood an exceedingly large throne, sitting on it looking like a king was a man with long brown hair and bright green eyes. He lifted a hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. Noticing the Chimera, he quickly stood up. "I knew someone was coming for my treasure, but I never expected a monster."

Zelgadis opened both of his eyes as an eyebrow raised. "I only appear to be a mon-ARG. " Zelgadis' head was now clanked with the hilt of his sword which had a delayed reaction in falling, having let go of it when the floor collapsed. And he now fell right back down, rubbing his head and hissing curses.

The man stared at Zelgadis, before falling over, holding his side and laughing hysterically. "R-right! Oh my! Oh my! I can't breathe!"

Zelgadis grabbed his sword and got up again, light lavender going over the bridge of his nose. "STOP LAUGHING!"

There were giggles from the crowd that were hidden in the darkness, as the man continued to laugh. "I do believe I have ordered a joker!"

Zelgadis' forehead obtained a few pulse veins, tightening the grip on his sword. "I SAID STOP LAUGHING!"

Abruptly, the people stopped laughing. The man jumped back onto his throne and fixed his crown. "Right! Now, what is it that you've come for?"

Zelgadis hmphed, putting his sword back into its sheath. " That's more like it...I've come here searching for an item that will help me regain my human form. Is such an item here?"

The man rubbed his chin. "Perhaps. What is the object you are looking for?"

"It's a certain stone that was supposed to be here."

The man clapped his hands. "Ah! I know!" Four people came in with pillows, on each pillow was a fist-sized stone.

Zelgadis reached into his cape, taking out the paper with the information about the stone and such on it, looking over the stones.

None of the stones on the pillows resembled the picture of the stone at all. They were all too pointy and sharp.

Zelgadis frowned, sighing then looking back to the man, starting to lose hope. "Are there any others?"

He nodded, snapping his fingers. Out of the darkness came a carriage like thing (just think about Aladdin here, if anyone knows the names of those one things that people are in, I'd be more than happy to put it here!!! I feel so stupid...). They set it down in front of Zelgadis, and stepped away, as two pulled back the curtains. The man stood up and walked over, taking out a young woman. She was dressed in a VERY small pink top, which exposed more than it concealed, with pink baggy pants.

She had a transparent pink veil over her nose and mouth, and her dark hair was pulled back in a bun. Her eyes were blank, as was her expression. On her throat was a gold choker, crimson stone embedded in it. The girl looked familiar, in a way, if she had her dark hair down, of course.

Zelgadis stared at the woman for a long moment, the lavender over his nose reappearing. As he stared Zelgadis' eyes suddenly widened, his mouth opening as he recognized the girl. "A-Amelia?!"

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun turned her head towards him, but she appeared as if she wasn't really looking at him. She just stared at him with a blank expression. Her eyelid twitched just slightly. She turned her head to stare at the wall with the same expression.

The man raised an eyebrow. "You know her? I found her two months ago in the desert. She hasn't changed. We found her beaten and bruised." He shrugged. "Is the stone on her choker the stone you are looking for?" Indeed, the stone looked just like the one on the paper.

Zelgadis irked, looking quickly to the paper then to the choker. "Yes, it is...And she," he motioned to Amelia, "Is one of my... friends. " He began to walk over to her. "Amelia?"

Amelia's head turned away from the wall to Zel's direction. But she said nothing. She kept the same deadpan expression. Her only movement now was the occasional blink.

The man chuckled, and took the choker off, tossing it to Zel as he wrapped an arm around Amelia's waist. "There you go, then."

Zelgadis Graywords caught it and nodded, moving to put it in his cape before he noticed where the man's arm had been placed. Zelgadis stiffened slightly, his eyes narrowing. "...I'll be taking my friend back to her home as well."

Amelia didn't seem to mind the arm around her waist, or rather she didn't even seem to notice it was there. She was staring at nothing now.

The man's own eyes narrowed at him. It seems as if he 'claimed' Amelia as his own. "I assure you, Ailema will be taken good care of here. Oh, yes, Ailema is the name I came up for her, as she wouldn't say anything. Oh, and if you were her friend, I doubt you really would have left her out in the desert. No sir, you will not be taking her."

Zelgadis put the choker in his cape, glaring at the man at the last few comments. "The last time I saw her, she was at home in the castle of Seyruun. So, you see why I have to take her back home."

The man shrugged and started to lead Amelia away. "Don't worry yourself. If her family wants her, they'll come looking for her."

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun allowed herself to be lead away. Her head turned to 'look' at Zel for a moment before she began staring at the wall.

Zelgadis followed him, glaring at the man's back. How dare he take 'possession' of Amelia. "I'm not going to leave Amelia here in that condition. Her home will be able to take care of her much better than here, I'm sure "

The man shrugged, and set Amelia on his throne. He turned and moved his hand under his cloak. "Do you wish to fight for her?"

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow, stopping. "A duel?" He drew his sword, holding it at ready. "That is fine."

The man grinned. "Sure." Out of his cloak he pulled out... a... fish.

Zelgadis nearly face faulted, his pupils retracting to dots. He wasn't going to complain though, if the man wanted to use a -fish- in a fight, so much the easier for him to win quickly.

He threw the fish at Zelgadis' face. "We shall have a cooking contest!"

Zelgadis caught it, irking. "A...COOKING contest?! What kind of contest is that?!"

He shrugged, and clapped his hands. Out of the darkness came multiple servants with trays and other sorts of cooking 'equipment'. "We shall start off with the appetizers."

Zelgadis slowly put away his sword, paling. Sure he knew how to cook decent enough from having to cook his own food at times. But, why a COOKING contest to see who gets to take Amelia?! This guy was a loony...

The man stood behind his assortment of cooking tools, and laughed. "Are you ready?!" The 'crowd' cheered.

Amelia stood there staring at the floor, barely even blinking.

Zelgadis swallowed hard, walking behind his. "I still don't see what this contest has anything to do with Amelia..."

The man clapped, and an announcer randomly appeared in the middle of the room. "And in this corner, we have our lord and master! Master!" Everyone clapped. He then waved to Zel. "And in this corner we have the blue rock from up above!" No one applauds. "We will have the appetizers first! You both will have an assistant." Two young ladies come up to them. "Get ready!"

Zelgadis began fretting, so much so that he didn't even hear the announcer's comment. He didn't know how to cook -MEALS-! And so... he cheated. He dug in his cape quickly and pulled out a cookbook, a small smirk appearing.

The announcer waved a flag down, "GO!" And the 'Master' started to cook immediately. Zel's assistant stared at him for a moment, before squeaking. "I-is there anyway I can help you, s-sir?"

Zelgadis nodded to her, trying to act as not scary as possible. He began to instruct her on preparing certain things here and there, also working on whatever he was planning himself.

The 'master' did what he had to, and the assistant helped Zelgadis as well as she could. By the time the announcer said stop both sides were finished. The announcer took the plates, put some on three equal plates, and gave it to three judges. First was the Master's. He had cooked shrimp. "6." Said the first Judge. "8." Said the second. "4." Said the third. "That equals eighteen!"

Zelgadis had his fingers crossed, had made a nice, quaint, dish of several different sushi's. His unnatural speed was not just present when he fought and ran. He just hoped the judges liked sushi.

The first judge took a bite, and chewed thoughtfully. Immediately, his eyes brimmed with tears and he stood up. "Oh, oh my..."

Zelgadis twitched and let his arms and head fall, blue lines appearing above him. I hate cooking...

He cleared his throat. "TEN!" The next judge took a bite, and tilted her head. "Hm, seven." The last chewed. "... Five."

Zelgadis irked, looking up and blinking, his eyes wide. "T-... twenty... two?"

The announcer raised his flag. "Twenty Two! He has beat our Master in the first course by four points!" There were cheers until the master glared. Silence. "Now, the main course! Get ready!"

Zelgadis began to flip through his book quickly, looking for the next thing he could make. His pride had been boosted, he could win after all!

A little bit later, the announcer calls them to finish. He takes their plates, did the same thing, and put them in front of the judges. The Master went first again. He had cooked steak with mashed potatoes and baked potatoes on the side. "Ten!" "Ten." "Ten."

Zelgadis twitched. He had cooked steak as well. It was grilled steak decked in teriyaki sauce, with almond rice on the side. It was quite fancy looking as well. He yet again crossed his fingers and closed his eyes.

The judges tried Zel's after the announcer replied with "Forty Eight." The judges thought about it. "Ten." "Six." "Nine." "Forty Seven! Master wins this time."

Zelgadis let out a sigh. One point off wasn't too bad. He could still win.

The announcer cleared his throat. "Now, last course. Dessert." The assistants got ready, and Zel's even looked determined, whispering to him. "Our master really needs to get off his high horse. I hope you'll win this one!" The other assistant, that of the 'Master's', was clinging to him like a schoolgirl. "We'll wiiiin!" The announcer cleared his throat again. "Get ready!"

Zelgadis flipped through his cookbook, nodding to his assistant then stopping at one of the pages, staring at it. Nah, that would -never- work. But, it did look simple. It wasn't really his style, but it the book -did- say it was popular...

The announcer threw his flag down. "GO!" Vroom and they're off! When the announcer finally said stop, both were finished and ready. They took the food, and put it in front of the judges. The master had made Ice cream Sundays, and the first judge tried some. "Six." "Seven." "Four."

Zelgadis had his head bowed down, his blue lines had reappeared. Why oh, WHY did he choose to do POCKY?! Indeed, on his plates were 3 different sticks of 3 different flavors of pocky. Zelgadis slumped to a sitting position and waited for his score, cursing under his breath.

The announcer called out "Sixty Five! Final score." The judges then, after staring at the pocky for a few moments, tried some. The first paused, before squealing like a mad man. "TEN!" "Ten!" The last paused, before gazing up, tears in his eyes. "T-ten!"

Zelgadis yelped and covered his ears when the first one squealed, looking up quickly. "...W-...what?!"

The announcer gaped. "S-seventy seven! We have a winner! In five years of this, our master has never been beaten, and now he has!" Cheers went up as the master sulked, the assistant glomped Zel.

Zelgadis was gaping as well, even letting the assistant glomp him.

The master came over and glared at him, before sticking his hand out. "Good job."

Zelgadis blinked at him dumbly before nodding slowly and shaking his hand.

He pulled Zelgadis over, and grinned slyly. "However... you cheated."

Zelgadis irked, blinking. "I...uh, wha?"

He pointed to the book. "You cheated."

Zelgadis paled slightly before smirking. "I never heard any rules before it started. So, I never cheated. If I wasn't allowed to use a book to help me it should have been stated beforehand."

He sneered. "You're smart." He then quickly ran over and grabbed Amelia. "But, let's have HER decide who she wants to be with!"

Zelgadis narrowed his eyes, walking some steps forward. "Now who's cheating?! You said if I could beat you I could take her with me!"

"I lied."

Zelgadis growled, moving his hand to the hilt of his sword. "Then I'll force you to let me take her with me!"

Amelia finally looked up from the floor. She turned her head in the direction of the 'master' then in Zel's direction, looking at them both with the same blank expression.

The man thought about it. "May I try one thing?"

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. "What?"

He tilted Amelia's head back, and kissed her.

Amelia's eyelid twitched, almost in an annoyed manner. But other than that she didn't respond at all. She continued staring ahead blankly.

Zelgadis' eyes widened, staring at them for a moment before he let out a very low, inhuman growl. "Get your filthy hands OFF HER!" He dashed forward with a quick burst of speed, bringing back a fist.

The man hid behind Amelia. "Now, now! She doesn't even taste good!" He replied, licking his lips. "Yuck. You can have her."

Zelgadis skidded to a halt, hissing at the man as he went to Amelia, moving her away from the one known as 'Master'. How DARE he take advantage of Amelia when she was in this condition?! It wouldn't surprise him if the man were also lying about him 'finding her like this'.

He waved his hand. "Go all ready."

Zelgadis started to move Amelia away before he stopped, glancing at her and blushing light lavender at her...attire. He glanced to the man and gave him another glare. "Do you still have the outfit you found her in? Or some better 'traveling' clothes at this place? "

He shook his head. "We threw it out, as it was in shreds. Plus, she's yours, so we can't change her. You buy her clothes."

Zelgadis blushed a bit deeper, twitching. "Well do you at least have some food or water I can have for my trip back? I normally don't travel with others, so I don't have what I need..."

Amelia was now just staring at Zel, without really looking at him.

He shrugged, yet Zel's assistant came up with a large bag. "Here, plenty of food and water." She lowered her voice. "And a dress with some under things. She'll need help getting dressed though. The only thing she's been able to do is look around and blink. You'll have to feed and help her drink, too."

Zelgadis was about to thank the assistant before she pointed out what he had to do. "Wha-...I-I can't do that!"

She eyed him. "You'll have to. You're her friend, right? Then you won't have a problem. Now, if you where her lover... yet never said anything to her about it, I suspect you'd have trouble." She giggled.

Zelgadis twitched. "I'm a -friend-, but I -DO- have a problem with it! I-...agh..."

She patted him on the shoulder. "Don't think with the thing between your legs, just think about her needing you. You'll be able to do it."

Zelgadis twitched quickly at one of her comments, a sweat drop forming. "I'm going to regret this..." He looked to Amelia then looked around for the way out, noting to himself that he -fell- here."

She led them to the stairs. "Go on, hurry. Tonight they'll be a bad storm."

Zelgadis swallowed but picked up Amelia and hurried up the stairs, still blushing.

Amelia acted the same, as she had been this entire time. Normally in a situation like this she would have blushed or gotten sparkly eyes, but now she just stared ahead.

Zelgadis finally managed to get out of the place, and quickly casted a levitation once he had gotten out. An hour later, since the storm wasn't there and it was pretty clear, he was at the town. He went to the innkeeper and got rooms, however, he ended up only getting one, as all the others were taken. Zelgadis is now opening the bag in the room, while Amelia sat lifelessly on the bed.

Zelgadis began to separate the things in the bag, biting his lip. After he was done with...dressing...and feeding Amelia, he would try his cure. It -had- to work after all that trouble he went through.

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun sat on the bed, staring at the wall in front of her. Slowly she turned her head in Zel's direction for the millionth time today. She blinked slowly every few seconds.

There was a sudden knock on the door. "Sir?"

Zelgadis jumped. "Er, yes?"

The woman on the other side sounded nervous. "We're expecting a very cold storm tonight, and I was wondering, since your girlfriend isn't wearing very... ... heavy clothing, you'd like some for her. I've got some nice strong wool for her, if you'd like."

Amelia turned her head towards the door when the knock came, but she said nothing of course.

Zelgadis twitched. "She isn't my girlfriend, but I would be very thankful if you lent her some, but, er...Could I ask you a favor first?"

She nodded, although being on the other side of the door he couldn't see. "Yes, sir!"

"Uhm...You see, my friend has a condition right now. This might sound a bit awkward, but she can't dress herself or feed herself...Er, I was going to dress her but I-...Well..."

The woman giggled. "I'd do it, sir, but we're quite busy... I'll leave the clothes by the door. Good luck! I'll come back later to see how you're doing." And then there was silence besides the quiet footsteps leading away.

Zelgadis groaned loudly, getting up and going to the door to get the clothes.

On the other side there was two bundles. One was something small, fit for a girl, while the other looked to be Zel's size.

Amelia's head moved away from the door to 'watch' Zel as he moved.

Zelgadis took both and closed the door behind him, locking it as well. He walked over to Amelia and swallowed. "Er...If you wake up suddenly, don't hit me..." He sighed, shaking his head and removing whatever was keeping her hair in a bun.

There was a sudden rustle outside the window, and random romance music began to play.

Zelgadis stopped and raised an eyebrow, looking to the window as a pulse vein appeared on his forehead.

Amelia just tilted her head to the side a little.

Zelgadis sighed and pulled the bag over, sweat dropping and blushing at the undergarments his former assistant had packed for Amelia.

The music continues.

Zelgadis ignored the music, getting up and moving to remove her shirt, the tips of his ears and the bridge of his nose turning deep lavender.

Amelia's hair had resumed its usual style once it was freed from the bun. She turned her head to stare at the wall. She seemed not to notice or care what Zel was doing.

Zelgadis swallowed and put the shirt aside, continuing with the 'dressing' process until he was completely done. He let himself plop on the floor and bury his face in one hand, twitching and simply sitting there for a while.

There was a knock on the door.

Zelgadis irked, looking up. "Y-yes?"

There was a pause. "Sir, it's been two hours... I was thinking... would you like some dinner? I can bring it up."

Zelgadis sighed. "I don't really need it, but you can bring some up for my friend if you wish. "

The woman chuckled, and a clanking sound was heard. "Very well." And the footsteps led away again.

Zelgadis got up and went over to the door, unlocking and opening it.

Amelia was staring at herself, or rather her outfit. It seemed that she had noticed she was wearing something different from before at least.

Nodding, Zelgadis took the food and came back inside. The chimera then set to feeding the princess, blushing as he did so.

A/N: Chapter two should be sometime but it depends if I get reviews for this chapter. Hope you liked it.